Atlanta-based author, television talk show host and game show star Steve Harvey adds a key line to his resume later this year: Father of the Bride.
In keeping with the interactive nature of one of his shows, "Family Feud," Harvey wants your help with the wedding planning. At steveharveytv.com, he invites input in a number of areas, including bachelor and bachelorette party destinations, the song for the father-daughter dance after Karli Harvey marries Ben Raymond in September, and the invitation design.
What's not up for debate is who will create those invitations. Harrison Rohr of Exquisite Stationery in Buckhead has been tasked with that job.
“I’m very fortunate,” Rohr said. “I want it to be perfect.”
The former director of catering for the St. Regis hotel in Buckhead, Rohr opened his store, at 480 E. Paces Ferry Road (right next to the restaurant Aria), about two years ago. Furnished with chic yet cozy seating with plenty of open space to compare designs, the shop is appointment-only so that each client receives personal attention.
“I wanted a place to feel comforting,” he said. “I wanted it to feel like home.”
Rohr, who uses a Cartier rollerball on heavy ivory cards with his name letterpressed in charcoal for his personal correspondence, honed his attention to detail while overseeing elegant events at the St. Regis. There were times, though, when sourcing the perfect invitations seemed more difficult than it should have been.
“I think we can make this better,” he remembers thinking. Then he proved it.
Atlanta businesswoman and philanthropist Su So-Longman was one of his first clients.
“Harrison has this innate gift of translating a client’s vision and making it far superior,” she said. “His professionalism, his vision and his creativity can be matched by no one.”
Sally Dorsey has worked with him on business cards and a number of party-invitation projects.
“His work is meticulous and stunning,” she said. “I would venture to say he is the best stationer in the Southeast.”
Tony Conway, CEO of Legendary Events, has collaborated with Rohr in the past and is working on a few projects with him now.
“Our clients are demanding and he gets that,” said Conway, who tends to a slew of famous and prominent guests at The Estate, the private events facility he operates at the historic Piedmont Road mansion once known as Anthony’s. “His company is named perfectly: Exquisite!”
Rohr has enjoyed the transition from hotel catering to his own business, albeit one that serves something of a niche market.
“A ton of people said, ‘Aren’t you nervous about going into a business that’s going away?’” he mused.
Indeed, a Crain’s Chicago Business report from 2011 charted trends associated with many consumers’ preference for online greetings, noting a steep drop in mail volume and a dip in the number of stationery stores.
Rohr is undeterred.
“There are times when an Evite is appropriate,” he said. “People are always going to want to feel, touch, see and hold onto luscious card stock, especially when it’s been engraved.”
And that’s certainly the case with weddings, whether the bride is famous or not.
“Despite the ubiquity of technological communication,” Rohr said, “when it comes to wedding invitations, they’re going traditional.”
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